Yeah it's their terrible rebrand. I get why they wanted/ needed to rebrand. The channel needed it because they've strayed (thankfully) far from their Christian Broadcasting Network Family Channel roots and Pretty Little Liars, etc aren't exactly "Family" type entertainment. However, "Freeform," is a bit too open. It implies aimlessness rather than an actual brand or marketing demographic.

Anyway, didn't we talk about how C&D would never get made in another thread? Could be pretty good since it'll be a TV series and able to explore them and their mythos a bit more than a 2 hour movie. Seems like a solid move putting it on cable, too. It allows the show to be a bit more daring than ABC/ Broadcast but it doesn't need to be the gritty Netflix-type series either.

Yeah, Freeform is a fucking awful name. I barely remembered that it was the ABC Family rebrand, and I'm not sure why their rebranding "experts" didn't insist on keeping the ABC part just to tie it in to the existing base AND remind people what the fuck the damn channel is.

The previews make this seem like something entirely different than the comics... something more akin to the Vampire Diaries than the drug twist tale of the sorta mutant pair... Regardless, I'll give it a shot and complain why they do not reference IW events.

Tonight is the premiere. Reviews say the actors are good, but they spend a lot of time in setting up the story and you can't get a good feel for the quality of it off the starting episodes. I'll watch it, but if you're not super into it, you might want to wait for the DVR to accumulate a few episodes and then consider binging to get to the meat, if it is there.

They tied Luke Cage to Cloak and Dagger - the cops in Luke Cage reference a cop that moved to NOLA by name, and that cop is a main character in Cloak and Dagger - and repeatedly talks about how she came from Harlem. It looks like they're putting at least a small bit of effort into tying Netflix to Cloak and Dagger. They also tied Cloak and Dagger to the ABC shows and the movies via Roxxon. If they reference Inhumans on Cloak and Dagger I'd even give them decent marks on creating a cohesive universe...

If only there were a series of movies that tied characters together that could demonstrate the benefits of tying TV shows together...

When done right? Yes. It could do things that make stories and make the shows more enjoyable to watch. You can have benefits that stretch from inside jokes that bring a momentary smile to sharing great actors/characters between shows that bring new elements to each.

It was what Marvel led people to believe we'd see when they brought Agents of Shield to TV - and what they gave us in Season 1 of that show (Movie characters on the show (Hill, Fury) & the Winter Soldier Twist, but they failed since then. This is as close as we've come to interconnection since then when it comes to connecting shows between networks or between TV and film.

Because your "when done right" was pretty much "when characters actually crossover". That's pretty far removed from someone in Luke Cage referencing someone in Cloak and Dagger which was my point. If their use of the MCU is restricted to throwaway lines of dialogue then it's not really adding anything except for people who write clickbait articles about MCU Easter Eggs.

Ask yourself, honestly, if they had kept this show exactly the same but it wasn't made by Marvel, the characters were called something different, and it wasn't "connected" to the MCU, would you even be watching it?

The difference between the MCU and every other franchise is that most franchises are built on brands; "I come to see transformers for robots and explosions, i come to see star wars for light sabers and ineffectual storm troopers" people flock to them due to tropes and conventions and not entirely for how good they are. MCU however is more of a quality assurance label. We go to the theater not for funny guys with super powers but because these movies have certain base quality that has remained remarkably high and consistent for 10 years.

Which is why the creative minds behind the the MCU openly support the Netflix series of marvel content and generally stay quite about the rest. Because the MCU has come to mean that "this product will be entertaining/good" and not "this product is associated with marvel comics and our Disney overlords". If the higher ups at Disney weren't propping Agent of Shields up, marvel studios would have found a way to kill it with fire, or at least publicly disown it from the MCU.

So going back to Clock and Dagger I honestly hope some Marvel Studio execs comes crashing throw the window before they start insisting this is part of the MCU before we even determine if this is any good. Because not feeding the golden goose mass shlock is how you keep the golden eggs coming.

Despite a different target audience, the quality on C&D is on par with the Netflix shows. Not as good as the best of them, much better than the worst.

Generally speaking, I'll try every Marvel show and even stick out the bad ones. I even stuck out Inhumans. I have yet to see Runaways, though. Would I have given this show a chance? I've tried similar shows in the past to see if they were any good, but gave up on them when the quality was less than here.

The interconnection does add something to the show. It may be most effective when e see the characters actually cross over, but lesser versions of it when backstory elements cross over add something. We know that Roxxon did Darkforce related experiments. Now we see Cloak get his powers from a Roxxon experiment. Their origins and basis for their powers in the comics have been a bit inconsistent... Maybe they're tying them together. I could see them wrapping up an Agent Carter storyline by bringing Enver Gjokaj's character back... I doubt they will, bu the idea they might is interesting.

There is also that little thrill you get when you notice a cross over easter egg, even if it doesn't mean much. It is like the thrill peple get when they play those idiotic Candy Crush games. Each level is pretty friggin similar, but the thrill people get from solving a level is a nice little endorphin rush that gets them hooked. Spotting Easter Eggs is similar in that you get a little rush. Well, people that are not soulless beasts do.

In the end, there are a lot of people asking for these Crossover Elements. They want to feel like all these stories occur in the same universe because it adds to the suspension of disbelief and opes doors. Marvel has failed to live up to that promise in the small screen... I'm excited to see someone trying to live up to it for te first real time since Season 1 of Agents of Shield.

This isn't as good as any of the netflix series even ironfist. However its not AOS bad just cringe inducing. Its 6 episodes and the show is just now getting to the point where both characters are consciously using their powers barely. There is a mind numbing amount of unnecessary junk sprinkled in that me or my wife didn't care for. To its credit the show gets better at as it progresses, the Tyrone's parents are actually decent characters, and the cop from luke cage has an interesting-ish plot HOWEVER this show is only watchable because i skipped the first 3 episode. My wife watched the first 3 and and I ended up finishing the current episodes with her because sometimes watching bad tv is good for the marriage. This show has molasses pacing and it meanders like a motherfucker. The show wants to put a foot into the ideas of racism and privilege mostly from Tyrone prospective and its not a bad foot forward but its doesn't add anything either. The show wants to be a CW show...and my mileage and patience with them are generally short. So far this show gets a rating of bad do not include in the marvel universe keep away. However it may get better and has room to grow unlike AoS.

I think it is much better than Iron Fist. Better than much of Luke Cage, too. While lacking many standout moments, it doesn't really sink too low, either.

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...To its credit the show gets better at as it progresses ... i skipped the first 3 episode.

Errr.... how do you know it gets better as it goes if you skipped half the episodes? Just curious.

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...The show wants to be a CW show...and my mileage and patience with them are generally short.

What CW show does this remind you of? Not any of their Supershows - the feel is nothing like Supergirl, Flash, Arrow or LoT. I can't think of a CW show this is emulating, but I only know a bit about the non-DC/Crazy Ex shows. Beyond featuring teens, I don't see it. The dialogue, while not perfect, is better than most CW stuff I've seen, including the DC stuff.

I think the people making this show saw that Netflix did and tried to apply a similar formula to a show for ABC Family/Freeform. It is not great, but I do think it is better than you make it out to be. Yes, this entire season is clearly an origin story season where the characters begin to learn their powers and discover where they originated, but it isn't a bad execution of it.

I think it is much better than Iron Fist. Better than much of Luke Cage, too. While lacking many standout moments, it doesn't really sink too low, either.

It lacks any standout moments because nothing is happening. And what is happenining is happening very slowly. The only thing this show as going for it right now is cop girl. And the promise that eventually when they do get around to using their powers on purpose the plot may pick up. Thats it.

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...To its credit the show gets better at as it progresses ... i skipped the first 3 episode.

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Errr.... how do you know it gets better as it goes if you skipped half the episodes? Just curious.

My wife described this show as slow and monotonous when she was watching it by herself for the first 2 episodes or so. Caught the tale end of episode 3 and powered to through to episode 6. While I agreed with her at the beginning... I still agree with her. However the more it actually gets around to its plot the more potentional I see for this to not suck... as much as it already does.

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...The show wants to be a CW show...and my mileage and patience with them are generally short.

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What CW show does this remind you of? Not any of their Supershows - the feel is nothing like Supergirl, Flash, Arrow or LoT. I can't think of a CW show this is emulating, but I only know a bit about the non-DC/Crazy Ex shows. Beyond featuring teens, I don't see it. The dialogue, while not perfect, is better than most CW stuff I've seen, including the DC stuff.

A CW show is a bunch of attractive young adults/teenagers going through a lot of personal drama that is basically the plot of the show. The CW superhero shows follow that formula with only the costumes and season villains distracting those who want to watch a show about superheroes from the fact that their watching one tree hill. The CW shows are still around mostly because 1. their good at balancing or hiding the dawson creek level drama with the superhero stories they try to tell in the first 1-2 seasons, and 2. because after the first season arc the new audience that likes the dawson creek stuff are now hooked and will continue to follow the show long after it stops being about superheroes.

So in that vain while Cloak and Dagger is NOT a one for one rip of the flash or arrow, it does want to follow aspects of that model rather closely.

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I think the people making this show saw that Netflix did and tried to apply a similar formula to a show for ABC Family/Freeform. It is not great, but I do think it is better than you make it out to be. Yes, this entire season is clearly an origin story season where the characters begin to learn their powers and discover where they originated, but it isn't a bad execution of it.

I think the people making this show never watched a netflix series in their lives. Netflix doesn't tell origins stories. Except in Iron Fist sorta, which is not coincidentally why its the worst Netflix show. When you meet these characters they are who they are. Your not introduced to year 1 of Daredevil. Or Jessica Jones, or Luke Cage or even the Punisher. They are who they are, they've comes to terms with it and now their living it. What netflix does is explain these characters to their audience. We are the ones experiencing their abilities and struggles for the first time and following the already moving train of their journey.

Now while orgin stories aren't the netflix model that doesn't mean orgin stories are bad. Marvel movies do it all the time. The problem is cloak and dagger is bad at it. Orgin stories shouldn't be stretched out this much where basically we get no progress or progression of these characters and the plot is asleep on the wheel.